Heaters are used in a wide variety of applications to provide heat or warmth to an adjacent area. Heaters are commonly used to apply radiant heat to underlying food on a buffet table. Such heater assemblies typically comprise a housing an a heater unit. The heater unit typically includes a heating element and a reflector. Although such heaters have been used to heat food for years, such heaters have several disadvantages. For example, such known heaters have heating elements that are difficult to replace and have “hot spots” in their middle regions and cooler zone (project less heat) at the ends. Also, known heat elements are designed to have a heat pattern that is centered below the heating unit and are not easily adjustable. Further, such known heaters are not space efficient, are difficult to assemble/disassemble.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a heater assembly that has an adjustable heating unit and evenly dispenses a wide pattern of heat across its length. It would also be advantageous to provide a heater assembly that provides for easy replacement of the heating element and reduces or eliminates “hot spots”. It would be desirable to provide for a heater assembly having one or more of these or other advantageous features. To provide an inexpensive, reliable, and widely adaptable heater assembly that avoids the above-referenced and other problems would represent a significant advance in the art.